The cold
by Pjama.Pants
Summary: He was done. Done with the lies, the heartbreaks and losses from the spy-world. When Alex (17) is taken with the kid that is his replacement, he never expected to encounter his old unit
1. Chapter 1

It was so cold.

Cold.

That was what he felt all the time, when they had first started on him.

It was always so cold, so cold that he almost didn't feel the pain. Almost.

He heard the boots marching down the corridor and he grimaced. If help didn't arrive soon, he would surely die.

Wolf looked up as he heard the all too familiar sound of footsteps on the cold ground. Instinctively, he moved to block Zach from view and saw the rest of his unit do the same.

But this time, their cell didn't open; the cell next door did and the guard dragged the man out. He was limp and didn't look like he had the strength to fight back, unlike at the start.

He felt his jaw drop. How could they do that to a human being?

Just fifteen minutes ago, the guards had kicked him into the adjoining cell, battered, bruised and unconscious, with only his pants and a rag of a shirt on, and now they were bringing him back again.

They were horrified to find his blood seeping into their own cell.

Although Wolf had no idea who the man was, he winced helplessly for him.

Of course they had tried to communicate but the man was always unconscious or unresponsive.

They had tried tossing him a jacket once and he had immediately snatched it up, but was never seen again when he came back. Taken, obviously.

From what Wolf could see when he had examined him, he was actually in relatively good shape (as good as you could get being in this hell-hole for three weeks), had brownish hair and was shaking uncontrollably until a few days ago, when he just went still.

He didn't protest; he didn't have enough strength to.

Where was the bloody back up!?

He hung his head and closed his eyes despite the pain, drifted off to what he knew was inevitable.


	2. A wolf

He bit his lip so hard.

It hurt so much, but he would never give them the satisfaction of hearing him scream.

The knife dug even deeper, making his eyes water.

"Bloody MI6." Was all he could muster his strength to think of.

-Line break-

-An hour later-

Wolf looked up as he heard the adjoining cell's door slam open.

"Maybe next time you'll learn to cooperate better!" He heard the guards laugh and felt a deep hatred begin to boil again.

The door slammed close and all of the unit and Zach scrambled to check on the man.

Trying to peer around the metal bars running from the ceiling to the ground, everyone was horrified to find a patchwork of open wounds on his body, arms, everywhere, fresh blood running past his dirty skin, an ever moving river.

Angry purple and red bruises littered his arms and he could see where his arm was broken, the whitish bone.

Distantly, he could hear someone, presumably Eagle, be sick.

It took all his self-control to tear his horrified gaze away from the blood to turn to Snake.

"Will he be alright?" Wolf managed to choke out.

"I...I...don't know. Considering all the… things….he has been through, the amount of blood that's leaking out and infection from this god-forsaken place, probably not. But he might if a fully equipped surgeon can operate on him in the next half hour, and even then, he only has the slightest chance to survive."

What were the odds that they would find a doctor for him in the next half hour?

Everyone seemed to come to the same answer and no one wanted to answer.

With that, Snake sank down helplessly to the floor and cradled his head.

Feeling numb and so hopelessly helpless, Wolf stared at the pathetic form of a man that needed help so much help, but none of which could be given.

Did he have a family out there somewhere, waiting for him to come home?

Friends to laugh with, waiting anxiously for news?

A person to love, crying for him?

And he felt anger, so angry that anyone could inflict such pain on someone else. How could people laugh when one was so in pain?

Vaguely, he heard his name being called out, and started. No one in his unit called each other by their real names unless they could help it.

Turning slowly to the source, he saw Zach leaning against a wall, looking nauseas.

He knew that when help arrived and they were taken away from this place, Zach would be different. And he would be worried for him.

Wolf gave him a shaky nod and turned away.

He didn't want to think about the blood running circles around his boots.


	3. The rescue

Gunshots and running. That was what woke him up.

Lying on the cold, hard ground, carefully placed away from the sight of the man, Wolf's eyes sprung open.

Beside him, he could sense Eagle stirring as well.

"What was that?" He heard Zach ask blearily.

Hearing Dog, the newest member of the unit, shush him quickly, wolf strained to hear anything. But all had gone deathly quiet.

Warily, feeling as though in a movie, he sat up. Walking slowly towards the door, he tried peering through the cracks.

Abruptly, without warning, the door burst open, sending Wolf sprawling. Admitting four military men, which they all recognised as the SAS.

-LINE BREAK-

Ben clutched at his walkie talkie with such force that he was sure that he would break it.

Every second that ticked by was another anxious second that he didn't know if he was alright.

"F-unit reporting. We have found K-unit and the kid. We also found a man, an agent, and he is urgent need of medical attention. J-unit is rounding near the back. Over and out"

Ben felt his shoulders slump. Partially because Alex was alive, partially because he might not stay that way for very long.

-LINE BREAK-

K-unit and Zach were hurried back to St Dominic's for treatment for minor scratches and bruises, nothing serious. As a whole, they shared 2 broken bones, one sprain and a fractured wrist.

All that while, everyone was silent, all of them thinking about the unnamed man in the other cell.

That was, until, Ben walked through the doors, flustered, bothered but tired grin on his face. Dark smudges shadowed his eyes and he had wrinkles that the unit never noticed before.

"Fox!" The whole unit greeted as one. Zach looked at the unfamiliar man suspiciously but said nothing.

Ben, for his part, nodded in the general room and sat in one of the overly stuffed chairs.

"Wolf, Snake, Eagle, Dog and Zach good to see you-"

"Who are you? "Zach cut of impatiently.

The unit noticed a frown on his face for an instant, but quickly disappeared.

"My name is Ben Daniels. Anyway." He continued to talk to K-unit "It's good to finally see you again!"

They chatted for a while, with Zach sulking, until the conversation wandered to the man in the other cell.

"Did he make it?" Snake ventured cautiously. Zach leaned forward.

"No." With that one word, Ben's face closed off and any relaxation he had gathered vanished in an instant.

"Oh." Was all that Snake could think of and they lapsed into uncomfortable silence, each wiling someone to say something.

Wolf, finally gathering up enough courage to say something, asked "Did you know him?"

"He was a friend of mine." Came the answer.

"Shit."Was all he could say, before a boring looking man entered.

He was a non-descript person and he ignored the rest of the unit, heading straight towards Ben.

"Ben" He greeted stonily.

"John," he replied equally warm.

"Mrs Jones requires seeing you; she wants you to complete some more paperwork."

With that, he walked out, obviously waiting for Ben to follow.

"I have to go now; we'll catch up another time." He said hurriedly, before heading out.


End file.
